Nail paint applicator



July 16, 1963 R. M. Q. MARANI NAIL PAINT APPLICATOR Filed Aug. 9, 1960 FIG. 5

FIG. 3

FIG. 2

INVENTOR ROSE MARIE QUIRINE MARANI BY McQM ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,097,386 NAIL PAINT APPLICATOR Rose Marie Quirine Marani, 25 Grands Ave., Carrieres-sous-Poissy, France Filed Aug. 9, 1960, Ser. No. 48,388 Claims priority, application France July 9, 1960 4 Claims. (Cl. 15-167) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in devices for applying liquid nail polish to the finger nails of the human hands.

For ages, the beauty of the hands has been one of the most important Worries of the feminine coquetry: the nails particularly are the object of the greatest attention with regard to their color and their shape.

According to a fashion widely spread for the present, the nails are given the shape of elongated almonds, clearly cut at their periphery near the cuticle (epidermis) which covers their base and are colored with a shining polish.

The polish is usually laid on by means of a small round brush, the end of which is point-shaped or cross-cut. The application thus performed is delicate and long: the round brush, with its pointed or flat end, has a tracing width smaller than the width of the nail and must be passed several times from the base to the end of the nail: besides, when passing over the edge of the nail, the brush, when not accurately guided, overflows easily on the cuticle and this undesirable polish of the cuticle has to be taken away with a little stick coated with cotton (and dipped in a solvent, in acetone for instance.

The toe nails are also often the object of the same care as the finger nails.

The present invention is concerned with an improved small brush overcoming all these drawbacks and in addition offering several advantages which will appear in the following description.

The small brush according to the invention is characterized in that the sheet of bristles and its holder are so shaped as to register in same time with the periphery of the base and the transverse bulging of the nail. Thanks to this shape, the end of the small brush, when accurately placed at the base of the nail covers exactly the periphery of said base and all that is to be done is to move along the small brush up to the end of the nail: the entire surface of the nail is polished in a single stroke and without any smudges on the cuticle.

In a preferred form of embodiment, the handle of the brush is constituted by a very elongated segment of cone at the end of which the bristles are fixed to form a conical fan.

This cone segment is made of a slightly resilient material, for instance a sheet of plastic or of metal. It becomes thereby possible, in course of operation, by means of a slight pressure of the fingers holding the brush, to constrict or enlarge the opening of this conical fan to adjust it to the width of the hand or foot nail under treatment.

By way of example, two embodiments of the small brush according to the invention are described hereafter and illustrated in the annexed drawing.

FIGURE 1 shows the end of a finger and serves as an explanatory diagram.

3 ,097,386 Patented July 16, 1963 FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the handle without the bristles.

FIGURES 3 and 4 show, in a plan view, the two embodiments.

FIGURE 5 shows the small brush of FIGURE 3 when spread out.

The nail (FIGURE 1) has the shape of an elongated almond, from the base 1 to the end 2: the base 1 and the sides 1-3, 1-- 4, are fringed by the cuticle. The treatment is intended to cover the nail with polish in a single stroke, either totally or in preserving at the base a nonpolished lunula 5.

The handle 6 of the small brush (FIGURE 2) ends in an opened segment of cone, 7-8, formed by a slightly resilient sheet of plastic or of metal.

The bristles 10 (FIGURE 3) or 11 (FIGURE 4) are fixed in the rounded end edge 9: the bristles are parallel or divergent and form a conical sheet.

According to FIGURE 3, the conical fan of bristles 10 ends in a rounded edge, the shape of which corresponds to the shape .13-1-14 of the base of the nail (FIGURE 1). By applying accurately the edge of the small brush upon this base and moving the brush up to the end of the nail, the entire surface of the nail is covered with polish in a single stroke and without smudges on the cuticle.

According to FIGURE 4, the median part 15 of the end 9 of the conical support is slightly folded back towards the inside of the cone and the corresponding part 16 of the end of the fan of bristles is so indented that, by placing the brush on the base of the nail, its edge will take the exact shape of the periphery of the front edge 19 (FIGURE 1) of the lunula and of the sides of the nail 13-17 and 1418.

Whatever the form of the small brush, the support in the shape of a segment of cone is advantageously made of a slightly resilient material (sheet of plastic or metal) so that, by pressing more or less the fingers on the sides of the opened segment of cone, the width of the opening of the cone can be adjusted to the width of the nail under treatment.

To guide more accurately the small brush and to avoid with greater certainty encroaching upon the cuticle, the sides of the sheet of bristles are cut straight (FIGURES 3 and 4).

This improved small brush can be used in cases when the old types could not be used, for instance when riding by train or in motor car, despite the jolts.

What is claimed is:

l. A nail paint applicator comprising a holder made of a strip of a resilient material having an are shaped cross-section whereby the forward end of said holder is adapted to fit the periphery and the transverse curvature of a nail when a slight pressure is exerted upon the lateral edges of said strip and a sheet of bristles fastened at one end to said holder and arranged parallel to the longitudinal axis thereof to define a concave surface forming an extension of the lower face of said holder, whereas the other end of said sheet of bristles has an edge shaped to fit the limit of the area to be painted.

2. A nail paint applicator according to claim 1 wherein, the holder made of a strip of resilient material having an 3 l are shaped cross-section is provided with slightly diverg- References Cited in the file of this patent ing longitudinal edges arranged in the same plane to define a segment of a conical surface, the wide end of UNITED STATES PATENTS which carrying the bristles has a rounded convex shape. ,06 Tw mey Aug. 8, 1939 3. A nail paint applicator according to claim 1, wherein 5 ,0 8,844 Meyer Feb. 27, 1912 the outer edge of the sheet of bristles has a curved convex 1,264,350 U-nsi ger Apr. 30, 1918 s'hape fitting the base of a nail. ,279,520 P rillo Apr. 14, i1942 4. A mail paint applicator according to claim 1, wherein 7,570 Ward Apr. 19, 1949 the outer edge of the sheet of bristles is cut out to have ,6 Spears July 12, 1949 a concave shape fitting the lunula of the nail. 10 2,537,468 i s J an. 9, 1951 

1. A NAIL PAINT APPLICATOR COMPRISING A HOLDER MADE OF A STRIP OF A RESILIENT MATERIAL HAVING AN ARC SHAPED CROSS-SECTION WHEREBY THE FORWARD END OF SAID HOLDER IS ADAPTED TO FIT THE PERIPHERY AND THE TRANSVERSE CURVATURE OF A NAIL WHEN A SLIGHT PRESSURE IS EXERTED UPON THE LATERAL EDGES OF SAID STRIP AND A SHEET OF BRISTLES FASTENED AT ONE END TO SAID HOLDER AND ARRANGED PARALLEL TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS THEREOF TO DEFINE A CONCAVE SURFACE FORMING AN EXTENSION OF THE LOWER FACE OF SAID HOLDER, WHEREAS THE OTHER END OF SAID SHEET OF BRISTLES HS AN EDGE SHAPED TO FIT THE LIMIT OF THE AREA TO BE PAINTED. 